1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in football practice aids and more particularly to a device whereby a football may be passed or punted and will automatically return to the player.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the practice of the game of football, particularly in the passing and punting phases thereof, it is desirable to have the ball returned to the player without the necessity of having another party retrieve the ball or having the player retrieve the ball himself. It is also desirable sometimes to practice punting or passing of a football in confined space either indoors or adjacent to a playing field where the extent of movement of the ball must be restricted. There are numerous devices which have been designed for returning balls of various types to a player during practice.
Quin U.S. Pat. No. 1,502,058 discloses a rubber ball having a cord for retrieval during practice.
Ferguson U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,239 discloses a tennis racket with a practice ball tethered thereto.
Tapp U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,343 discloses a practice ball which is spherical in shape and which has wide straps surrounding the ball and tethered for purpose of recovering the ball during practice.
Minchin U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,491 discloses a wide harness for fitting around a ball which is to be tethered for ease of recovery during practice.
Moore U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,353 discloses a harness for a spherical soccer ball connected to a tether for recovery of the ball during practice.
Pruitt U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,450 discloses a wide elastic band fastened around a football and connected by elastic cords to stakes in the ground, the arrangement probiding for return of the ball during kicking practice.
Bellagamba U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,523 discloses another kicking practice tether for a football having the tether fastened to the laces of the football and connected to an elastic cord supported on stakes in the ground.
Masters U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,404 discloses a specially designed football having an end loop connected to an elastic tether supported on a headband on a player using the ball in practice.
Civita U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,133 discloses a specially designed football of plastic foam construction which is connected to a tether for recovery during practice.
Schachner U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,409 discloses a specially designed football having a connector supported inside the cover of the ball and held in place by the laces of the ball and connected to a tether for recovery of the ball during practice kicking.
The several prior art patents listed above all suffer from the defect that they either require the use of specially designed, non-regulation balls, or have connecting means or tethering means which are connected to the ball in a manner preventing the normal handling of the ball. The devices shown in the above noted patents do not permit the handling of an unobstructed regulation football during practice and are not connected to the tethering apparatus in a manner permitting free rotation of the ball about its longitudinal axis and effecting return of the ball with a spin corresponding to that encountered when the ball is passed or punted by one player and caught by another.